Ka-Bar T33 Knife Restoration (Part 3)

[Jeffinn]

I've been busy with other projects so my time for knife repairs has been kinda limited. I previously glued the micarta handles in place and rough cut them to the liners. I went back to the bandsaw today and cut them closer;

I shaped them to the liners using a 220 grit sanding belt on my belt grinder. I generally sand them until I start to see the brass liner getting shiny;

Theres a small curved area where my belt grinder wont fit so I'll finish that up with my Foredom tool and a small grinding drum;

I drilled the liners in two places with a 1.6mm drill bit for some handle pins. I'm using nickel silver for this knife;

An added step that I take (maybe not necessary but it works for me), is to slightly countersink the holes in the liner with a small carbide ball burr;

I installed a couple of pins with some basic peening;

It was here that I realized that I still hadn't removed the pivot pin from the bolster. If I had taken a few seconds to look closely at the liner on the back side of the bolster I probably would have noticed the small crack in the liner. I didn't and it presented itself in a very obvious way as I was tapping the pin out;

A piece of the corrosion popped out and the liner crack opened up. Repairing this with some solder will likely result in an acceptable result (since I'm keeping the knife it should be fine). But now I'm thinking I'll have to remove the micarta to make the repair.
Does anyone know the easiest way to get the 5 minute epoxy to release? Cold or heat?
Stay tuned.

[Meridian_Mike]

Oh man.... I hate that. BUT.... stuff happens I recon....oh well, keep you chin up!

I would say heat will make the epoxy release. I have had it release on me while belt sanding. The friction heat made it turn aloose.

Mike

[Jeffinn]

Oh man.... I hate that. BUT.... stuff happens I recon....oh well, keep you chin up!

I would say heat will make the epoxy release. I have had it release on me while belt sanding. The friction heat made it turn aloose.

Mike

Thanks Mike! I’ll give it a shot.
I may just end up making a couple of new liners for it (gotta see if metal cutting blades are available for my antique bench top band saw). That corroded section looks like it got deeper into the metal than I originally thought. I can get the brass sheet locally, just gotta figure out the cutting part.

[orvet]

Does anyone know the easiest way to get the 5 minute epoxy to release? Cold or heat?

My go to method of getting epoxy to release is to stick it in the freezer overnight.
After 8 to 24 hours in the freezer (the longer the better) I remove it from the freezer and deliver a sharp strike on the edge of the handle material.
The sideways shearing force seems to be the weakest part of the bond when it is frozen. I try to go directly from the freezer to where I'm going to tap on the handle. They do they seem to warm up quickly.

Another thing that might work well on that particular handle, since it appears to have a bolster at the end, you might be able to freeze it and then push down gently on the bolster. I think the entire slab will come off at that point. If not an old sheepfoot blade might slip between the liner and the handle and work as a wedge to pop the liner away from the handle.

[Jeffinn]

Does anyone know the easiest way to get the 5 minute epoxy to release? Cold or heat?

My go to method of getting epoxy to release is to stick it in the freezer overnight.
After 8 to 24 hours in the freezer (the longer the better) I remove it from the freezer and deliver a sharp strike on the edge of the handle material.
The sideways shearing force seems to be the weakest part of the bond when it is frozen. I try to go directly from the freezer to where I'm going to tap on the handle. They do they seem to warm up quickly.

Another thing that might work well on that particular handle, since it appears to have a bolster at the end, you might be able to freeze it and then push down gently on the bolster. I think the entire slab will come off at that point. If not an old sheepfoot blade might slip between the liner and the handle and work as a wedge to pop the liner away from the handle.

Thank you sir! Your advice is always appreciated!

[Jeffinn]

I decided to make some new brass liners. The old ones are just too compromised from the outgassing to use for this project. I got some ideas in another post on ways to cut the brass sheet stock. It turns out that my old Craftsman benchtop bandsaw with a standard fine tooth wood blade will cut brass sheet stock just fine. Apparently if it’s soft enough and thin enough a standard blade can handle it.
I cut them to rough size for now, Ill finesse them to their final shape a little later;;

I’m debating on whether to re-use the old bolsters. I have some 1/8” nickel silver stock so I may just go ahead and make a couple of new bolsters while I’m at it.
More to come...

[Meridian_Mike]

Oh yes... good work.
I was wondering where you were in your project. New liners are a good idea. You have a good pattern to go by.
In the end, you have the original blades and springs....

FUN!!

[Doc B]

Looking good!

[Jeffinn]

I’ve had a lot going on these past few months so it always feels good to get to the workshop and work on a knife or two! I finished shaping the new liners, drilled some pin holes and installed some new 1/8” nickel silver bolsters. The bolsters are just roughed in for now but they are soldered in place and drilled for a pivot pin. Next, I’ll probably look at installing some new acrylic or micarta handles. There was a large hole in the original handles (I assume it was for a lanyard), I might leave it out in my customization. Here’s the new bolsters soldered in place and roughly shaped;

[Meridian_Mike]

Good work Jeff..... You sound like me. I can't get in my shop for all the "honey doooos" and other frivial stuff like wedding anniversaries..... LOL.
My wife reminded me last Friday that anniversaries USUALLY go to the top of the "important things" list....

Keep on track with that T33.... I can't wait to see the final result.